A strange affair
by Marchbabe
Summary: In which Doctor Strange is tired of the tension and forces Natasha to have a long overdue conversation about their shared past


**Hi Everyone** **it's good to be back! This came to me and I had it written within an hour. I love Dr. Strange and Black widow so I paired them up, enjoy:)** **what shall I call them? Dr. Black? Strange Widow?**

 **They are bit ooc though. I have a back story buy it would have been just too long to include it in here. This is just a small peek into their complicated lives**

"You should be resting."

Natasha almost jumped out of her skin and cursed under her breath. For all her training, she didn't even hear him enter the room. He now stood at the door leaning against it.

"I am fine." She threw nonchalantly, going back to her stance on the mat, going through her kicks and punches.

"Natasha, you almost died today." She stopped and looked at him for a moment. It was the first time he had used her first name in a very long time and it sounded good. Her eyes travelled from his well-defined face to his muscled body. He was not wearing his uniform, so she could see how well toned his body was underneath all the ridiculous layers he usually favored. His body has changed from when she had last seen it all those years ago.

"I said I was fine!" She snapped stubbornly, angered with herself for appreciating his physic. She heard a sigh and his approaching footsteps but ignored him.

He stopped right behind her; she could feel him and tried desperately to hold on to the barely there thread of her control. She felt her body grow hot and the hair on her neck stand.

"You saved my life, why?" He asked in a gentle voice. It was her turn to sigh and turn to look at him through narrowed eyes.

"We're a team Strange, I only did what I would for any member of my team." She answered coolly, almost challenging him to say otherwise.

"Natasha_"

"If you'll excuse me, I have some training to do. Some of us don't have mystical powers to bail us out." She said almost mockingly.

He stiffened and narrowed his eyes. It wasn't the first time that she had mocked his special abilities. She always made quips about how he wouldn't be of any use without them.

"You think that what I do requires no practice? No studying? No sacrifice? Do you even know everything that I lost to get to where I am today? You have no right to stand there and act as if you're the only one who's can pass judgment." He could barely contain his anger now.

"Look Strange, it's getting late. I am gonna head out." She had barely walked past him when he grabbed her elbow firmly and pulled her slightly to him. He tried to ignore the warmth that simple contact spread through his entire body.

"Running away again, are we? _Nancy,_ you haven't changed at all, have you? Still a coward after all this time." He gritted through his teeth, finally addressing the elephant in the room since they had met again.

Natasha stopped cold and tried to yank her elbow free but he just wouldn't let her go. Her frustration and anger were growing by the second.

"Strange, if you do not let me go, I swear, the damage to your hands will look like a walk in the park. I know more than a hundred ways to make that happen." Natasha warned him but he just shook his head.

"No. You've run away for long enough." He kept his voice cool and steady despite the fact that his heart was beating wildly in his chest.

"Are we really doing this?" At his lack of response, she was finally able to yank her elbow free but before she knew what was happening, the familiar nauseous feeling took hold of her, after all it wasn't the first time he had teleported her. She found herself somewhere else, her quick reflexes making her realize that she was on a deserted beach. The sun seemed to be setting, casting an orange glow on the waves.

" _Are you freakin' kidding me?"_ Natasha was so angry that her body shook. Her face was red and her hair wild. If the situation wasn't so serious, he would have kissed her.

" _Take. Me. Back. NOW!_ " She yelled each word with a jab of her finger in his broad chest.

"I will take you back _after_ we have spoken." He closed his eyes, thinking of the best way to proceed.

"You think you can just do your abra kadabra trick on me and kidnap me? I don't care if you're the biggest sorcerer of the country, planet, universe or entire world but if you don't take me back now, I will kill you." She finished angrily and he could see that she meant business.

"Whether or not we go back is all up to you. But I must warn you, I could go and come back when you're ready, so what is it going to be _Natasha?_ " He crossed his arms on his chest with a raised brow.

"I know what you're trying to do and it won't work. I won't yield. So you can go and come back as you like. I have been tortured many times." She shrugged, internally hoping he wouldn't leave. She had no idea where she was but by the look of it, the whole island was deserted, which meant that she wouldn't have been able to contact the team.

"Was I just a game to you? Were you sleeping with me every night just to spy on me? Was it all a lie?" He finally asked what had been burning in his mind after all this time.

"Yes." She replied coolly looking at the waves crashing on the sand in front of them.

"Look at me in the eye and tell me."

"What do you want to hear? That your kisses were addicting? That you became much more than just a mission? That after all these years I still thought of you? Is that it? So what? So you could inflate your ego some more?" She scoffed, finally looking at him in the eyes like he had asked.

"No, not to inflate my ego." He shook his head sadly and put a hand on her shoulder, slightly nudging her so that she could face him.

"Then what Strange? You want me to pretend that I'm some fool deluded with notions of love? If so, you'd better stop fooling yourself and go back to _Christine._ " She almost spat the name as if it had a bad taste but as soon as the name left her mouth, she knew she'd badly slipped.

"How do you know about Christine?" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"It doesn't matter." She tried to deflect but he was unfortunately already onto her.

"The only way you could know about her is if you had kept tabs on me because I never ever mentioned her. Why?"

"Why what?"

"Natasha, you're a lot of things but dumb will never be one of them. So answer the damn question already!" His voice rose impatiently. How long were they going to do this?

"Fine! Yes, I kept tabs on you." She answered with a sigh.

"Why?" He pressed and she knew he would never let this go so she did the only thing she could do: tell the truth.

"Because you matter." She answered simply. "You matter to me…a lot." She looked him in the eyes and could see relief, confusion and anger.

"If I mattered so much to you, you wouldn't have left like that." He shook his head, letting his hand fall from her shoulder. The gesture meant much more to Natasha. To her, it was a sign that he was giving up like the very few before him when she'd open up to them.

"I know what this is. You want closure so I'll give it you and we will never speak about this again." She inhaled deeply. "I was told that one of the best neurosurgeons_"

"The Best." He interrupted her but had the decency to look slightly sheepish under her glare.

"Who at that time was in Paris for a conference had ties to a very secretive black market auction. It's a place where everything from paintings to secrets to people are sold and we were trying to get in."

"Why would you think I had anything to do with _that!_ " He spat disgustingly.

"You seemed awfully chummy with one of the known organizers in japan and we had thought that maybe you might have been their American counterpart." She explained.

"Wait! Are you talking about_"

"Yes Mr. Osaka is a widely known underground criminal and he had invited you to his estate."

"As a thank you because my surgery on his son was successful. He had been everywhere and was turned away. I was the only one with the skill set to even attempt it. No need to have slept with me and lied to know that." He finished bitterly but regretted his words when he saw hurt flash across her face.

"I'm sorry_"

"Anyway." She interrupted his attempt at an apology. "I observed you for a week or so before making contact with you."

She looked at him struggling with what to say, as if it was too much to absorb.

"I am not going to lie to you Stephen. It was supposed to be a quick in and out but…I…I kept on looking for reasons to stay. To be honest, I knew you had nothing to do with it before I slept with you." Natasha revealed honestly. There was no point to games or lies now, was there?

"What?" He took a step back as if she had slapped him. "But…but you…" it was as if he had lost all ability to speak and just stared at her dumbly. "You stayed for two months." He finally managed.

"I know." She replied dryly. "There was just something about you that I couldn't shake. I am not going to say that the whole I'm-a-gift-to-humanity shtick was attractive at all. In fact I almost deserted after our first meeting." They both chuckled lightly. He had to admit that he knew what an ass he had been in the past.

"But with the life I lived, especially then, I couldn't afford to have any attachments. There is a reason why they only recruit orphans…because no one would miss them or ask questions."

"And if they knew of your attachment to me, they would eliminate me." He concluded and she nodded slowly, hoping to make him understand that the choice had never been hers.

"Why didn't you say anything?" He asked sadly, not really sure.

"Stephen, I couldn't risk it. It was better that way."

"Better for who? You or me? Dammit Natasha, just admit you didn't want to deal with the emotions of it all and then you did what you do best when you get attached, you ran like a coward! Do you know?" he suddenly asked, taking a step toward her. He was now in her personal space and looking at her with something akin to desperation which was very infrequent for the sorcerer.

"Know what?" she hated how her voice came out breathless.

"Do you know what it was like to make love to you one and the next you were gone? Do you know what it was like to find my entire life devoid of any trace of you? As if I had dreamt you up. All the pictures we took were erased and any hotel or restaurant footage you appeared on disappeared. And the shock of seeing you being part of a life I thought you would never be part of…" He took another step until their chest were pressed together, choosing to remove the mask and letting her see how hurt he was.

"It was only two months, we were hardly in love." She averted her eyes.

"Don't…just don't cheapen what we had. In those two months, I fell in love with you Natasha. From your iron will and inner fire to the way your body responded to me with the simplest of touches. You couldn't have faked that, I know you're good but not _that_ good. Why do you think it never worked with anyone? I was always comparing them to you."

"That and you were an ass"

"That too." He chuckled lightly.

"Stephen, I…"

"Did you?" He asked quietly, almost tiredly.

"I did…I still do..." She admitted, taking his breath away. He closed the distance between them and finally kissed her. So many things still needed to be said but they hardly felt the need for it at that moment.

It was just as they remembered and yet so much better. All the anticipation and tension seemed to be poured in the kiss. He slid a hand in her hair and pulled her closer. She snaked her arms around his neck just as he lifted her so that she could wrap her legs around his waist and just like that they were back on the training mat savoring each other with caresses and moans.

Thank you for reading:)


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